Electric Guitar Through Your Delta 1010LT PC Sound Card

Doing a quick search I noticed a lot of posts on the internet asking how to connect an electric guitar to a computer using the M-Audio Delta 1010LT PCI sound card.

Most responses misguidedly advising you need a pre-amp because electric guitars do not output a 'line level' output. In other words the signal is too weak for most sound card inputs and needs a bit of amplification first.  For general, run-of-the-mill sound cards, this is probably true.

Fortunately (or unfortunately for those who took that incorrect advice and went and purchased a pre-amp) the Delta 1010LT has two inputs that can be used for low level inputs such as microphones and electric guitars. The 1010LT will amplify the input up to line level which makes it loud enough to play guitar through your PC.

This is how I set mine up.

The two inputs that can be amplified (and thus accept mics and guitars) are analog input 1 and 2 found on the breakout cable 2 (the larger of the two breakout cables). Analog input 1 and 2 have XLR connectors as opposed to the majority of other inputs which use RCA connectors. The reason being is they are designed to accept balanced input. This is a whole other topic and for our purposes doesn't really concern us but feel free to read up about it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balanced_audio

The white coloured connector is input 1 and the red is input 2.

Now the Delta 1010LT has some hardware jumper settings that can set the two inputs to either accept line level or non-line level inputs. By default the card should be set to the microphone level (the one you want to use for guitar) but it's worth checking. With your computer turned off or the card removed check the jumper switches.

This diagram shows the settings.

First try option 1 which sets the mic level to +30db. If you find the signal is too strong and you get unwanted distortion try option 1A which lowers the amount of amplification but is still mic level. Option 2 and 2A allow you to use these inputs for balanced line level audio.

Once your cards hardware settings are correct you will need to get an XLR to Phone adapter in order to plug your normal electric guitar cable into the input. Here's what they look like:

Obviously get a female phone jack and make sure you get the 6.35mm (1/4 inch) version and not the smaller 3.5mm version else you will need another adapter to convert the size. Generally the less adapters you click together the better for keeping your signal clean and interference free.

In a pinch I couldn't get an XLR to phone adapter so I settled for an XLR to RCA and have an RCA to Phone adapter plugged into that. Not ideal, but it will do until I can swap it out at a later date.

Finally once you are plugged in you will need to check the input levels in your software. I use my Delta 1010LT primarily in Kubuntu Linux so if you are a windows or mac user your mixer software will look different, but you should essentially have the same options.

You want to make sure that the input level of the analog input you have the guitar plugged into is increased enough to allow you to hear it. There's nothing worse than wasting time trying to figure out why you have no sound only to find out you have a volume control turned right down (and most of them are by default).

In this screen shot you can see ADC input 1 is turned up to 0db. Word of advice - start low and slowly turn up rather than hitting that first power chord with everything set to max!

Another trick with the 1010LT is checking the digital patch bay or router. If you want to hear your guitar you need to route your input signal to your output. In this screen shot you can see I have my speakers plugged into output 1 and 2 so I set H/W Out 1 (L) and H/W Out 2 (R) to both play H/W In 1 so my guitar comes out both left and right speakers.

In summary, if you have a M-Audio Delta 1010LT PCI sound card, you do NOT need a pre-amp or special guitar amplifier to play guitar through your PC. You can use the amplified inputs of the 1010LT.

In another post I will explain how to route the guitar audio into a virtual effects rack before coming back out to your speakers or to another application for recording and playback.